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A project led by Ross D. Silverman, IU McKinney Professor of Public Health and Law, is one of 15 new projects that have been awarded funding as part of phase two of Indiana University's Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge.

Professor Silverman, who also holds an appointment as Professor of Health Policy and Management at the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI, is principal investigator for the new Indiana Addictions Law and Policy Surveillance Project.

He will collaborate with IU McKinney Adjunct Professor Heather McCabe, ’03, Assistant Professor at the IU School of Social Work, and Professor Amy Lewis Gilbert, ’09, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, IU School of Medicine, on the community-engaged effort. They will lead an interdisciplinary team of experts in law, policy, public health, health care, social work, implementation science, and program analysis to analyze the content, implementation, and impact of local, state, and national laws and policies related to addiction.

The team will systematically collect, analyze, and disseminate information about the characteristics of local, state, and national laws and policies; compare laws and policies across jurisdictions and with evidence-based standards; and evaluate the implementation of laws, policies and programs and their impact on professional practices, the health of Hoosiers, and addictions crisis response.

During the past year, Professor Silverman has worked with Nicolas P. Terry, Hall Render Professor of Law and Executive Director of the William S. and Christine S. Hall Center for Law and Health, and Aila Hoss, Visiting Assistant Professor and IU Grand Challenge Fellow, on their research project on Legal and Policy Barriers to Effective Opioids Interventions.

“This work will build in part upon our successful Phase 1 Grand Challenge work with court personnel with Professors Terry and Hoss,” Professor Silverman said. “The project will also offer IU students of law and public health opportunities to engage in an array of research projects.”

The IU McKinney project was one of 16 initiatives launched as part of Responding to the Addictions Crisis -- the third of IU's Grand Challenge announced in October 2017—as part of IU’s $50 million commitment to prevent, reduce and treat addictions in Indiana.

"By hosting public forums telling stories of addiction to reduce stigma; surveying thousands of Hoosiers to inform policy recommendations; sharing fresh perspectives with members of the Indiana congressional delegation; and testifying in front of the Senate Committee on Aging, IU's Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge has set a pace for progress that understands lives are on the line," said Faith Kirkham Hawkins, associate vice president for strategic research initiatives at IU.

"Phase two of this Grand Challenge will further inform and implement strategies to help the countless families, employees and businesses suffering as a result of the addictions crisis," she added. "IU will continue forging this path the only way we can be successful: working together with state and local government, business and nonprofit leaders serving on the front lines."

In the spring, the IU McKinney team published their findings on legal and policy best practices in response to the opioid epidemic, met with state and federal lawmakers, and spoke extensively, including presenting at a Statewide Opioid Summit sponsored by the Indiana Supreme Court in May, and at the Indiana Public Health Conference in October.